Chapter Three
Cameron
Jasper blinked.
Clearly, I’d surprised him. I glanced around the store. “Fuck, I just…I need to apologize.”
He cocked his head. “Huh? Cameron, I’m the one who invited you. You were shitfaced.” He eyed me. “You didn’t take advantage of me. If anything, I took advantage of you.” He licked his lips. “And I’d like to do it again.”
“Do it again?” I might’ve croaked that.
“Well, yeah. I’d totally do it again. Only if you’re sober. That might be a better idea…”
“But…” I swallowed hard. “I don’t think I could…you know…do anything for you.” I cleared my throat, then looked around again, ensuring no one was close. “I haven’t…” Heat suffused my cheeks.
“Oh.” He pursed his lips. “How about we finish our coffee and go back to my place? You can say no at any time.” He ran his hand through his hair. “I mean, if you want…”
“Where do you live?”
“The apartments over on Second Avenue. I have a studio.”
A studio? I wasn’t a snob, but that felt…claustrophobic. “Why don’t we go to my townhouse?”
Jasper sucked on his drink. “Yeah, sure.”
“You can bring your drink to the house.”
“Oh, right.” He grinned impishly. “Just making certain. I don’t want to make any assumptions.”
Like that I might be interested? We’d never discussed sexuality. Knight was obviously gay, but I hadn’t given much thought to either FP or Jasper. Given my best friend was gay, perhaps I should have. Except, as dentist to a good chunk of Mission City’s population, I didn’t pay attention. Someone’s sexual preferences had nothing to do with their need for dental care. “What assumptions?”
“I, uh…” He cleared his throat. “I kind of thought you were gay. Or bi...”
I sort of shrugged. “I…thought I was…not gay. I mean, I’m not.”
“No worries. We’re just hanging out for a bit. All good.”
Except he’s offered a repeat for last night, and I’m so taking him up on that offer.
I rose. “You’ll follow me?”
He nodded.
“I have a two-car garage. You can park there.” Fewer questions than if he parked in visitor parking. Who’s looking? Who’s judging? Kade comes over all the time.
Except I’d been friends with Kade forever. Like back to grade school. We’d gone through high school together. We’d studied together at the University of British Columbia—he to become a physiotherapist and me to become a dentist.
We’d both settled back in Mission City.
Of course he’d come over all the time.
Of course he’d bring his husband.
So why couldn’t I bring over a new acquaintance?
You’re too obsessed with appearances. You’ve always worried about being perceived as gay. Perhaps a little too obsessed. Did it never cross your mind you might like men too?
Nope. Because I hadn’t gone there. From the day Kade had come out, I’d known I wasn’t like him and therefore that made me straight. End of story.
I rose.
Jasper did as well.
We headed for the door. I disabled the alarm on my SUV as Jasper unlocked his car.
The thing had definitely seen better days.
“I’ll follow you.” He waved. “See you soon.”
And just like that, we were on our way.
Twelve minutes later, with me still in a bit of a daze, we parked side by side in my garage. Once we’d both killed our engines, I hit the button to close the garage door. We both exited our cars.
“These are so cute.” Jasper grinned. “I’ve never been up here. Well, I haven’t been hardly anywhere in Mission City. I should plan a tour or something. There’s a tourist map, right? Or something like that?”
“Something like that.” I echoed his words, even as my nerves ratcheted up. I’d left my most of my drink behind, so I couldn’t blame the caffeine. I snagged my gym bag, then disarmed the alarm and led Jasper inside my house.
He toed off his shoes in the entranceway. “Okay, so will you give me the tour of your house? From the outside, it looks super interesting.”
I wouldn’t have said super interesting, but I could admit to having made some design choices. “Sure, follow me.” I led him to the front room. I gestured toward my desk. “I don’t spend much time here, but I do my bookkeeping and paperwork here.”
He stepped toward the massive windows. “What a great view.”
I squinted. “Of my front yard?”
“It’s so cute. Oh God, there’s a dog.” He pointed excitedly.
I rolled my eyes. Still, working on the assumption he wanted to meet the dog, I headed toward the front door. I unlocked and swung it open. “Hey, Rayne, Everett.” I waved.
Rayne grinned. “Look, Champ. It’s Cameron.”
The German shepherd’s ears perked.
Everett waved. “How’s it going?”
“I don’t suppose you could wait until we put on shoes? My, uh, friend would like to meet Champ. Oh, or you could come in.” Right. Because that’s safe.
The men exchanged a look, and Everett shrugged. “We don’t have anywhere to be. We were just giving Champ a good walk. I’ve been super busy at work on a case.” Even as he said the words, he opened my gate. The two men and the dog stepped in, and then he closed the gate.
Champ, previously placid, became more excited.
I’d known my neighbor Everett for a while before he’d very suddenly, one random day, had a new live-in boyfriend and a rescue dog. Almost a year later, and they were as happy as could be.
Champ, previously nervous around strangers, now thrived when around others—especially children.
“Oh, awesome.” Jasper nearly vibrated with excitement. He backed up as the two rather tall men and the dog stepped into my small foyer.
“Jasper and I will go upstairs and put on a pot of coffee. We can do proper introductions then.”
“And a hot chocolate?” Rayne batted his lashes over the most stunning eyes I’d ever seen.
Everett called them tawny-brown gold.
I just called them amazing.
Jasper’s are pretty cute. A lovely shade of stormy sky dark gray.
“Coffee is great.” Everett glared at Rayne.
Who shrugged.
“I happen to have some milk I need to use up before it expires. Rayne can have a hot chocolate, and I can have a tea latté. To make up for the one I abandoned at Starbucks.”
“Great.” Rayne bent to untie his laces.
Jasper and I headed upstairs.
The main floor was just one large room with the kitchen at one end, the living room at the other, and the long dining table in the middle.
“You entertain a lot? That’s an awesome table.” He grinned.
I headed to the fridge to grab the milk. “My dad used to come over often. We just hang out and talk. My best friend Kade comes over with his brood. His brings his husband Tanner and their daughter June. Kade’s younger sister Nina, her husband, and their twin toddlers often come by. Plus, Donna and Rob, Kade and Nina’s parents. The table barely fits everyone.”
“Wow.” He nodded. “My dad was an only child, my mom’s sister moved away, and I’m an only child, so our family gatherings were pretty tame.”
After filing a saucepan with milk, I put it on the stove. Then I moved to the coffeepot. “Would you like coffee?”
He held up his frapp. “Still nursing this. Uh, maybe later?”
I held his gaze. “Is it okay I invited them? I haven’t seen them for a while, and you wanted to see Champ—”
Even as I said the words, heavy footfalls came up the stairs. Everett stepped onto the landing first, followed quickly by Champ and Rayne.
Jasper’s eyes lit. “May I?”
Everett laughed. “You may. Let Rayne take the lead, okay?”
Rayne gestured toward the living room. “More space.”
“I’ll follow.” Jasper brushed his arm against mine before following Rayne to the living room.
Everett headed toward the coffee pot. “Man, the hours I’ve been putting in on this legal case. I don’t know whether I’m coming or going.”
“This close to Christmas as well? Don’t the courts, I don’t know, go dark?”
“Justice never sleeps.” He cocked his head. “I don’t think that’s a saying. Or maybe it is.”
“Or it should be.” I opened the cupboard and got out four mugs.
“What’s with you and the guy?” Everett gestured to where Jasper sat on the floor with a hundred-pound dog practically sitting in his lap. “Well, he gets Champ’s stamp of approval.”
“Champ’s a different dog from the one I met almost a year ago.”
“He is.”
“You’re a different man.” I stirred the milk.
“I am. Marriage suits me.” He pointed in my direction. “You didn’t answer my question.”
Everett had the same dark skin as I did. And he also knew me well enough to know when my cheeks were heated. “It’s a long story…?”
He poured himself a cup of coffee from the pot. “I’ve got all the time in the world. You know how I met Rayne.”
I grinned. “Yes, that was quite a first, uh, time.”
They’d met at Quinton’s Halloween party, fucked in Quinton’s upstairs office, and Rayne had vanished into the night. Not to be seen again until he turned up two months later. I hadn’t been privy to all the details. That said, I’d noted when Everett suddenly had company and I’d been intensely curious the night several cop cars, a fire truck, and an ambulance were at his townhouse—which was only three over from mine.
Apparently, someone had tried to kill Rayne. Everett’s younger sister, Denali, had taken the guy out.
About a month later, Rayne had tried to set me up with Dynamo Denali.
Even I’d recognized I wasn’t up to the challenge. The actor had a big role in a show filming in Vancouver with huge potential for future work. She did not, in this life or the next, want to date a small-town dentist.
I wasn’t hurt.
Rayne had been affronted on my behalf. Bighearted man was too soft for his own good.
Everett sipped his coffee. “Rayne’s been working on a big case, too.”
“Oh?” Rayne was an in-demand private investigator.
“Yeah. I can’t share the details, but man…” He winced. “Seriously, I’m a lawyer. I shouldn’t be surprised about the shit people get up to…but there’s always something new.”
“Yikes.” The milk bubbled, so I moved the pan to the other burner and turned the stove off. “Are the cops involved?”
Slowly, I poured the milk into two mugs.
As I put the pan in the sink, Everett added an Earl Grey tea bag to one and started heaping chocolate powder into the other. “Your man’s drinking a frapp?”
My gaze shot to his.
And narrowed.
He shrugged. “I saw that arm brush. And the way he looks at you. And the way you look at him.” He stirred the hot chocolate. “I have to say I didn’t see that coming. Obviously Kade’s gay, but I didn’t think you—”
“I’m not.”
He slowed the stirring. “Uh, okay.”
“Sorry. I might’ve been a little abrupt.”
“You might’ve been entitled. I was trying to not make assumptions. To not presume. It’s totally fine if you’re gay, bi, straight, or undetermined.”
“Or none of your fucking business.” Rayne sauntered into the kitchen. He pressed a kiss to Everett’s temple as he wound his arm around his husband’s waist. “You’re interrogating.”
“You could hear me from over there?” Everett gestured with his chin.
We all gazed over to find Jasper’s face buried in Champ’s neck.
“Is that even safe?” Vague concern washed over me.
“If not for his past, Torah said he would’ve made a fantastic therapy dog. Your boyfriend has spent his entire life around dogs. I think he and Champ are spirit animals.” Rayne winked.
“He’s not my boyfriend.”
“He says he was at the bonfire last night.”
“He did?” I might’ve squeaked that. I handed Rayne his hot chocolate. “It’s hot.”
To my surprise, he didn’t roll his eyes. He held my gaze. “There’s always a story.”
“Not today.”
Normally, I liked to steep my tea for longer, but I wanted out of the claustrophobic kitchen. I fidgeted with the tea bag and eventually tossed it into the compost.
“You’re not adding sugar?” Rayne shivered. “Gross.”
Everett poked him in the ribs. “Not everyone dumps five teaspoons of sugar into everything.”
“Especially not dentists.” I mock glared. “When are you coming in for your checkup?” Rayne had become my patient after hooking up with Everett. Before that, though, he hadn’t been to a dentist for more than six years. That had been painfully apparent. We’d needed two cleanings and an appointment to get his teeth into better shape.
“My insurance turns over in January. I promise I’ll come in.” Rayne nudged Everett. “I appreciate having insurance. Novel feeling.”
We’d spoken, just once, about his past. Booted by his grandparents upon high school graduation when he’d come out. Making his way in the world for six years until meeting Everett.
Considerably smoother sailing from then on. A few bumps, to be certain, but things were much better.
“This dog is amazing.” Jasper met my gaze from across the room.
With Rayne and Everett, I moved to the living room. Everett and I sat on the couch while Rayne, after putting his mug on the coffee table, dropped to the floor again.
“Yeah, Champ really is amazing.” His grin matched the dog’s, whose tongue lolled. “So, what are you two up to today?”
I nearly choked on my tea.
Jasper grinned. “Cameron was giving me a tour of his place. I’m new in town. I live in a studio apartment on Second Avenue. My badminton buddy was showing me how some other people live.” He gazed between Everett and Rayne. “You live in the complex as well, I take it.”
Rayne flicked his hand out the window. “Three units down. Cameron and Everett both bought before the complex was built—while it was in presale. So they got a good deal.” His chest puffed. “I’m contributing to the mortgage now we’re together. Like, forever together.”
I chanced a glance at Everett, who had the goofiest grin on his face.
He caught my gaze, but his smile didn’t lessen. “I put him on the deed since yeah, we’re married. Seemed like the prudent thing to do.”
“I assume Gil did the paperwork?” Gil was the partner in the law firm where Everett worked. He, his husband Callum, and their two kids were also my patients.
Rayne snorted. “Of course he did. And Everett still had me read over every single word. Even suggested I should get my own lawyer to look it over.”
I arched an eyebrow.
“Right? So I paid their other lawyer, Nicole, to look it over. Only she wouldn’t take more than a loonie.” He pursed his lips. “So I took her to a rock concert in Vancouver. Grindstone. Awesome show.”
Jasper caught my gaze. “I love Grindstone. Someone played several of their songs at the party last night.”
I sipped my tea.
“Yeah?” Rayne grinned. “I have all their albums. Been a fan since the beginning.”
“You were in diapers when they began.” Everett snickered.
“Hey.” Rayne pretended to be affronted, although clearly he was amused. “Thirteen.”
“Yeah? Me too. Well, eleven.” Jasper’s eyes lit. “I heard about this garage band in Vancouver. My mom wouldn’t let me drive down with my older cousin to see the show.”
“Drive down from where?”
His eyes flashed. “Fort St. John. She was right, though. My cousin died in a wreck the next week. My aunt moved away, and I never heard from her again. I might’ve been in the car.” He twitched his nose. “My parents were extra protective of me after that.”
“When did you move here from Fort St. John?” Rayne petted Champ, who snuffled.
“Four weeks ago. I had a really good job in the oil fields since I finished high school, but I got laid off.” He chanced a glance at me.
Why? Does he think I’ll judge?
“And my boyfriend, uh, dumped me.”
Ah.
Wait.
Am I a rebound? Is that a thing?
“But I’d been planning on dumping his cheating ass anyway.” He continued to stroke Champ’s chest. “So I got tested, packed up my car, and came south. Well, first I applied for a job with Wally. Then, once I landed the job, I moved. I figured I should be prudent. Although I would’ve taken just about any job in any town at that point.”
“Wally’s a good man.” I considered. “His brother Felix is an elementary school teacher. He works with Nita, Kade’s younger sister.”
Rayne and Everett nodded.
“Kade’s my best friend. We grew up together. Nita and Tanner were best friends as well. Tanner and Kade got together last year. Now they’re married and have a baby and everything.”
“June is just so damn cute.” Rayne’s eyes got a little dreamy.
Beside me, Everett tensed.
Interesting.
“So you know Nita who works with Felix—Wally’s younger brother.”
“Yeah. And Ben as well. He’s married to Isaac and lives in a condo near you.” Everett loosened up a bit. “Ben walks his beagle Buddy by the law office quite often.”
“Buddy and Champ are friends.” Rayne puffed his chest out again.
“You’re a very proud papa.” Jasper offered up that observation, but I could’ve made it as well.
“Champ has two daddies who love him.” Rayne continued to preen.
Everett chuckled. “Oh God. Don’t get him started. He’ll start listing off all the other dog moms and dads he’s met over the last year. He loves the dog park near 14th Avenue. We were worried at first, but Champ’s, well, a champ. He still has the occasional trepidation around strangers, but he adores every dog he’s ever met.”
I drained the rest of my tea. “Have you guys had lunch? I know it’s a little late—”
“Oh shit.” Rayne glanced at his watch. “Damn, we have to go.” He rose and reached for Champ’s leash.
Reluctantly, Jasper handed it over.
Everett and I rose as well.
“My sisters, Denali and Ursula are coming for dinner. Along with my parents. To celebrate Ursula’s new contract.”
“The hair product she created?”
“Yes.” The clearly proud brother beamed. “She’s landed a distribution contract with an independent drugstore chain. She’s hoping that she can get word out and she’ll be able to snag a deal with a bigger store.”
“It’s a great product.” Ursula’s product was primarily for Black women’s hair, but she’d given me a bottle. My hair was short, but I’d noticed a difference in the feel when I tried it. “Let me know which store—I’ll go and buy some.”
Everett’s eyes shone. “Yeah. I plan to do that as well.”
“So cool.” Rayne nudged Jasper. “One sister-in-law has four amazing kids. One is an entrepreneur, and one’s a famous actor.”
“Oh, who?”
Everett tried to speak, but Rayne cut him off. “Denali Williams. She has a role in Vigilante Justice—”
“Oh God, you know Denali? She’s so…” Jasper caught Everett’s thunderous expression. “Uh…talented…”
Rayne burst out laughing. “You can say she’s hot. Everett might hate people ogling his sister, but she’s a successful fashion model and now actor. People are gonna look.”
“And if we don’t go to the store, she’ll be eating wilted celery for dinner.” Everett met my gaze. “Thanks for the catch-up. Perhaps between Christmas and New Year’s we can see each other again.” He turned to Jasper. “Welcome to Mission City. I hope you’ll be happy here. We would enjoy seeing you again.”
“I love your dog.” Jasper flushed. “Sorry. I meant to say nice to meet you, too.”
“And you love our dog.” Rayne beamed. “You’re a good man. I think you and Cameron will be very happy together.” With a wink, he led Champ and Everett out of the room.